


Even if I knew my place should I leave it there?

by youngjusticewriter



Category: Pet Shop of Horrors
Genre: Amnesia, Leon the pet whisperer, M/M, Mild Language, Post Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27032503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjusticewriter/pseuds/youngjusticewriter
Summary: He looked ready for a fight, was the first thought Leon had as he stared at the young man. It wouldn’t be surprising if the dark haired man started a fight. He seemed be itching for one the first time they had ran into each other but despite that it had been the stranger who had left first.An eyebrow was raised. “Yes, detective?” The man replied with a sweet tone that didn’t match the look in his eyes. A moment and then, “Don’t tell me one of the cats have stolen your tongue.”
Relationships: Count D/Leon Orcot
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: Fic In A Box





	Even if I knew my place should I leave it there?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [estelraca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estelraca/gifts).



Leon further stretched out his arm before swiping his hand to the side. The dampened rag left behind a trail of- 

Despite how hard it was pouring down rain, Leon could still hear the ringing of a bell. His mouth dipped into a frown as his fingers uncurled themselves from the rag he had been using to clean tables off with. “We’re closed,” Leon told the wannabe customer, uncaring if his tone came off as rude; yeah, the door wasn’t locked (yet) but Leon had flipped the open sign over to show that the business was now close.  
There was no reply but the bell wasn’t hit by the door as a customer walked out of here either. After a few seconds Leon turned around to face the entrance of the cafe. “Look,” he began only for the words to die in his throat at the sight of just who was standing there at the door way. 

He looked ready for a fight, was the first thought Leon had as he stared at the young man. It wouldn’t be surprising if the dark haired man started a fight. He seemed be itching for one the first time they had ran into each other but despite that it had been the stranger who had left first. 

An eyebrow was raised. “Yes, detective?” The man replied with a sweet tone that didn’t match the look in his eyes. A moment and then, “Don’t tell me one of the cats have stolen your tongue.” 

Leon shot the man a dry look. “Astarte is doing fine. You could ask, you know, instead of beating around the bush.” Despite the short amount of time their encounter Leon had learned the man had been pretty genuine about the concern he had shown over the animal Leon had been rescuing. After a moment Leon spoke up, throwing bait into the water. “And what I told you last time still stands. I’m not a detective.” From all the asking around Leon had done after getting out of the hospital he had been just another American tourist. If he was a foreign cop then surely there would have been a partner or someone to check in on him. But there hadn’t been and if - if - he was in law enforcement and the car accident was an attempt on his life then surely there would another attempt made. (Or not, whispered a voice his head not for the first time, because if they knew you lost your memories then it might not be worth the effort to try and murder you again. Maybe they don’t think you’re worth anymore of their time. Maybe that was a mistake.) 

“No,” replied the man, the sweet tone he had been speaking with had dried up very quickly, “you’re just an employee at a cafe who rescues animals who had been adopted by individuals who all have met unfortunate circumstances.”

On one hand Leon wanted to say even if he wasn’t in law enforcement that didn’t mean he wouldn’t report someone who was doing a crime to them. Witness testimony was a thing though the stranger hadn’t actually confessed to a crime but rather was acting like a kid whose hand was caught in a cookie jar and was confused on why they weren’t getting in trouble. (The whole philosophy of negative attention being better than not being payed any focus at all came to Leon’s mind.) On the other hand Leon wanted to argue there was more to him than those two aspects of his life but that would be a lie wouldn’t it? Leon threw himself into work even after he had secured enough money to stably have a roof over his head and- you know what? There was a time and place for thinking about his life and if he missing anything or anyone in it - usually that time being three in the morning because Leon was a light sleeper and his neighbors could be loud - but that time wasn’t now and until this guy coughed up proof that he did in fact know Leon he wasn’t owed anything. “Why did you come here? The sign shows we’re closed so this wasn’t a chance encounter. Last time we met you were the one who ran away so what do you want?” 

Nostrils flared. Both the purple and gold eye narrowed. “I did not run away.” The volume which the guy spoke with was small but Leon was able to hear him perfectly anyway. 

Leon continued to stare at the man. “I’m sure it was a tactical retreat then.” 

The words were like poking a bear. “I am not running away,” the sentence would have been a repeat of the last one if not for the use of present tense. So what? The guy partially felt like he was being a coward? And why did the accusation even matter to the guy? Had they really known each other in the past or was the man too prideful to take an insult? Instead of further poking the bear Leon decided to offer it some verbal honey as an olive branch. 

“Retreating doesn’t mean you’re coward. It might be a smart move actually.” Leon brought his shoulders up and then dropped them so he could shrug. “Just depends on the circumstances.” 

The man’s stare reminded Leon of a starving stray. One thing Leon had come to learn about animals was even though for some reason they could understand one and another - and it’s only Leon who could hear them (he had learned that lesson after making his nurse afraid that he had been given too much whatever meds they had had him on because his comment about the nice singing outside) - that didn’t always mean it was enough. There’s a difference between understanding what language someone is saying and actually understanding what they are saying. In this moment Leon wondered if he had the ability to coax this man out of whatever corner he’s backed up against. A few seconds pass. It’s only then that Leon questioned just why he’s feeling that urge. 

It doesn’t take long to find an answer. The guy acted like he knew Leon. So it made sense for him to feel this lon- 

“And just how do you view our circumstances?” The man raised an arm to his neck. Black nails brush against the design of a single pair of butterflies was stitched on the collar of clothing the man wore. Leon doesn’t need to look over the soaked clothes again to know those butterflies are the only stitched design on the red outfit. Either the clothes were plain or that the lack of other anything is meant to make you pay attention to those two insects. In the end it doesn’t matter right now. Just standing here silent for who knows how long why he tried to figure which guess is more likely to be the reason why the clothes are designed the way they were isn’t important. Answering the question before any more time goes by is what is important because Leon doesn’t want the man to think he’s some sort of tongue tied idiot whose letting his dick get the better of his brain. 

There wasn’t much to mentally look over so he could find his reply. They had only met once before and the encounter had been short because the guy had ran off. This meeting - a meeting that this guy not only started but had sought out because Leon knows the sign is showing closed instead of open because he had been the one to flip it over - had to be less than ten minutes if he had to guess. Again there’s really not that much to review. “You probably got a better opinion than I do. You act like you know me. I don’t even know your name.” 

For a second something flashed across the man’s face before not only was that door to whatever the stranger was feeling slammed shut but was also locked down. “Your sense of humor still isn’t something I share.” 

Leon stared. He doesn’t know if he should take that response seriously and wonder just what kind of person he use to be or if he should ignore - just file the reply as desperate attempt at denial (of desperation). “I’m not pulling your leg. I don’t know you.” 

There was silence between them but that didn’t mean the rest of the world stopped. It was still raining like there was no tomorrow and the sound of water still dripping from the man’s clothes filled the cafe. He really should ask what the guy’s name was if the man didn’t mention it soon; referring to him as the man and the guy was getting old. But first, “Do you want a towel?“ The guy doesn’t respond so Leon elaborated. “You’re soaked to bone and dripping on the floor. You don’t want to get sick do you?” 

The man’s eyes look away from Leon’s own and fell to the floor where puddles of water have been made from his soaked clothes. It said something about this - whatever just what this was - that the guy hadn’t reacted to the fact he had been out in pouring rain without an umbrella. “....I would appreciate something to dry myself off with.” 

Leon walked off from the table he had been cleaning earlier to go grab a towel. While there are several dry towels that are more or less the size of hand towels there are folded towels in the closet in the back. Going for those take longer to get to but they are larger in size which is exactly what Leon wants. Drying your hands off was one thing. Drying your entire body was another and was better suited for an actual towel than any smaller size of a towel. 

The closet door creaked open. He didn’t need to turn on the light to know where the towels are so Leon doesn’t. He only reached an arm in and grabbed the towel on the top of the pile before closing the closet with his free hand. 

When Leon made it back he found the guy standing in the exact same spot he had left him at earlier. Leon reached out and offered the grey towel. His arm stayed stretched out. The guy was staring at the towel but he hadn’t taken it. 

....Was he in shock or something? (How close had they been to one and another?) 

The man’s lips part only to close. It was only after he closed his mouth that the man accepted the towel and so Leon’s arm could go back to his side. He started off drying off his clothes without trying to speak again. 

“So what is your name?” It’s funny, usually people learned each other’s names when they first meet but with them- actually, Leon realized, if the man did know him then that first encounter they had had wasn’t actually they first time they had meet. 

For a second the man halted before going back to work. Talking about going back to work Leon should be going back to work. He should finish cleaning the tables and then he would need to wipe up the mess on the floor but Leon couldn’t find it himself to go back to his job. He can’t find it himself to tell the guy to get out even though he deserved to be told just that after the man had barged in here despite the close sign. No, instead of kicking the stranger out and closing up the cafe Leon had grabbed a towel so the guy could dry off. 

“What were you doing with Astarte if you don’t remember me?” The man inquired instead of simply answering Leon’s simple request of a name. If they really did know each other before the car crash had this guy always been like this? Which was to say did he have a habit of answering questions by asking his own questions? 

“I’ve got this sixth sense.” Leon brought his shoulders up to shrug as he continued, “I’ve got knack for finding animals who need help one way or another.”

“A six sense,” the man repeated with a tone of voice Leon couldn’t quite put a finger on. 

Yes, Leon had to bite back from saying, you see instead of I see dead people it’s I hear animals. It sounded crazy - he had freaked out his nurse actually and then had learned to keep his mouth shut about stuff like that least he stay in the hospital any longer - but it wasn’t. If he was only imagining birds and pets in the park talking that would be one thing but it wasn’t just that. On more than one occasion Leon has heard the voices of animals he hadn’t previously seen but rather had heard first and even that hadn’t been enough for him to believe it. It hadn’t been until he bargained with a cat to follow specific instructions and for said cat to do them that Leon started to believe hey, maybe he wasn’t mixing a few screws. “So what is your name?” Leon asked, trying again because he was nothing if not stubborn.

“D.” And that’s it. That’s all the guy - no, D said. 

“D,” Leon repeated, trying out the name himself. It’s funny, he’s voiced the the letter d before but saying d as a name is different. And, yeah, it’s weird for someone to only go by a letter - because that has to be name D goes by because no parent in their right mind would just give their kid a single letter for a name - but for some reason Leon can’t help but feel like it fits. Now that he knows D’s name he can’t imagine another name for the guy even if the other name was his actual name. Which is admittedly weird but Leon doesn’t mind this weird. 

Since the guy has only referred to him as detective Leon proceeds to introduce himself even though there was a good chance D might know his name. “I’m Leon Orcot.” The only reason Leon even knew his name was because of the leather wallet that had been his pocket hadn’t been destroyed by the car accident. Apparently genuine leather - which his wallet was - was a bitch to burn. Now if his wallet had been fake leather then that faux stuff would have gone up into flakes quickly. 

Once again D paused in drying himself off. “You’re far away from home. What are you doing here?” A moment and then, “Besides working at this cafe and collecting strays.” At the third sentence D’s voice changed into a knowing tone like he knew something Leon didn’t. Considering what that the third sentence had been about and something D had previously mentioned there was a good chance his past self - if they really did know each other - had come in contact with D because of the animals. The animals whose owners in D’s words had died from weird circumstances. Had his past self been investigating- 

“I got into a car crash,” Leon admitted to the young man who still hadn’t gone back to drying himself off. “Along with some burns I got a type of amnesia. The only reason I know my name is cause my wallet wasn’t faux.” Leon explained that comment, “Apparently faux leather is quick to catch on fire. Genuine leather is hard to burn.” 

When Leon met D’s eyes he wondered if this was how butterflies felt when someone put needles in them and stuck them on a board to be studied. For the first time since Leon had meet the man the hairs on the back of his neck stood up even though unless D had a weapon Leon could likely take him despite his age. 

Lightning flashed, filling the cafe in additional light through the window. 

“You should return home. I’m sure your brother misses you.” 

He had a brother. Leon tried to picture what his sibling looked like. Was he older than Leon or was Leon the older sibling? Either way, it was likely his brother’s hair would be grey as well as blonde. Unless of course his brother had been born a good many years after Leon had been but that would be risky- Leon’s stomach churned at the thought. He shoved the questions down and then filed them into a list. Most to least important being the filing order.

If D really had been into shady stuff - likely he could still be in it considering how he acted earlier - then why had he known about Leon’s brother unless it was to hurt him? “You knew my brother?” 

“For a short period of time I knew Chris,” was the clipped answer D gave. Was it always questions given back and short replies when the guy answered something Leon asked? 

Thunder boomed. D didn’t jump at the abrupt noise. He still hadn’t gotten back to drying himself off. “I’m not particularly fond of children,” D began to confess, “but keeping your brother’s company was something I grew not to mind.” 

Despite only having met this guy once before as far as Leon could remember he was pretty sure he was good at translating what D said. (Maybe understanding D was something that stayed with him even though he had lost his memories of the younger man?) D had grown to to like Chris. 

“It admittedly helped that he had more manners than you.” 

Instead of arguing that he did have manners (it wasn’t that he didn’t have manners it was just choosing to use them) Leon said, “That’s the most I’ve ever heard you say.” 

“You don’t remember putting your feet on my furniture, walking into my shop stinking worse than a skunk, or breaking my dishes and the resulting lecture that came with each of those actions.” That response painted a different picture (a domestic picture) than Leon had been imagining. Had they been friends...or had they been something else? 

“But I have seen you angry,” Leon argued back because D had been just been pissed enough that it made the hairs on the back of Leon’a neck stand up and that said something because Leon doesn’t get scared that easily, “you were just a minute ago.” But that was thing wasn’t it? If he was guessing right D was mad at whoever had caused the car accident. He wasn’t mad at Leon. If that was how D acted when he was genuinely upset than whatever lectures he had given Leon previously weren’t from being truly angry. D had been annoyed. After a moment Leon fished further for information, “How did Chris act in your place? Was he really well behaved?”  
So far Leon had learned that not only had he use to be over at D’s place but had taken his brother which was another thing entirely: that was someone else’s life instead of just Leon’s own life.,

The change of questioning seems to be easier for D to answer to. “He was and the let’s adored him. Even the ones who Chris wasn’t allowed to take outside and walk with.” 

There they were again: animals. 

“I take it rescuing strays isn’t a hobby of yours. You have a job that involves animals don’t you?” 

D still hadn’t gone back to drying himself off. At this rate the idiot was going to catch a cold. “I own a pet shop.” It was then that D glared at him. “That is enough about me. We were discussing your life de-“ his sentence abruptly came to a stop. He was going to say detective but caught himself, Leon realized. D didn’t take long to recover from the blunder. “You should move back to Los Angeles. I’m sure your brother and coworkers miss you.” 

It’s always your brother when D spoke of Leon’s family. Did D ever meet any other members of Leon’s family or was that it? Did he only have Chris when it came to his life? ...Considering Leon’s age the idea that his parents are dead shouldn’t be surprising. 

The thing was Leon wasn’t totally against visiting his brother but he doesn’t know where Chris was. He only has a city Chris is living in for a lead and that was assuming D’s information was correct. “I would have to find homes for Astarte and the others if I tried to move back to United States.” That or do research on just how many pets you were allowed to take on a plane.

“They could stay with me.” D raised his chin and Leon was about ready to take that towel from the man and starting drying him off since D wasn’t going to do it. Or at least, Leon amended, wasn’t going to dry himself off until Christmas got here. “If anyone would give them the care they deserve it would be me.”

Words came spewing out of his mouth. “For how long? You own a pet shop, D. You can’t promise that every person that walks into your shop is going take of the pet they’re interested in.“ 

If the look that crossed D’s face was anything to go by that answer surprised him. Several seconds passed by. Finally D said, “Come to pet shop then. You should visit and see if you think it would be a good home for your pets.” 

It wouldn’t hurt to check the place out. That said, could one visit really out an end to Leon’s doubt on the idea? “What’s the address?” 

D proceeded to give it out. Apparently the guy had just moved to this city. 

It was about a minute later that Leon offered, “You can stay here while I finish cleaning up. Hopefully, the storm will calm down enough for you to leave then.” 

“...Thank you for the offer but I have business else where,” D admitted and if he wasn’t going to end up with a cold before he surely would now by heading off in the storm again. 

“Must be important if you’re going out in that weather.” 

D smiled thinly. Once again the hair on the back of Leon’s neck stood up. “It is.” It was then that he offered the towel back. “I know it might be too much to ask for but do try to stay safe.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I partially wrote a second chapter for this fic (this plot bunny was meant to be multi-chartered) but because I was having writer’s block for this story when I already had a sinus infection delay my progress I ended up choosing to work on my other ideas instead of attempting to write further on this idea. 
> 
> On another note, D in this fic: *encourages Leon to go back to US to be with his brother and coworkers not only because it means Leon will leave the country D is in but because D does care for Leon and wants him to be happy with his loved ones* 
> 
> Leon once he regained his memories: So you want me to stay with the people I love? *Proceeds to plop down on a couch in the pet shop.* You are a loved one, dumbass.


End file.
